It is written by Andrew Hampp, founder of music marketing consultancy 1803 LLC and former correspondent for Billboard. Songs for Screens is a Variety column sponsored by Anzie Blue, a wellness company and café based in Nashville.
We just gave it a feel that we felt the world’s in need of right now.” Then John came in and since John’s selling John so he just went crazy on it. That was always my favorite part of the song, and I couldn’t wait to get to that part.
So instead of it happening for maybe four bars, I think I doubled it and I just made it feel really like some Shuggie Otis-‘Strawberry Letter 23’ type of filtered sounds through it.
Legend’s “I See Clearly Now” cover also marks his latest collaboration with Raphael Saadiq, who executive produced the singer’s 2020 album “A Bigger Love” and his 2018 holiday collection “A Legendary Christmas.” Having helped pioneer the Zoom-scoring process during lockdown with his work on HBO’s “Lovecraft Country” last year, Saadiq was able to apply his newly resourceful approach to the song’s production by performing all bass, Wurlitzer, piano, guitar and background vocals himself on the track (drums were handled by frequent collaborator Carl Lemar Carter, with additional instrumentation from Dylan Wiggins, Jamelle Adisa and Roland Gajate-Garcia).Īs far as reinventing the song, which was already memorably updated in 1993 by Jimmy Cliff for the movie “Cool Runnings,” Saadiq says, “I really loved the ‘Nothing but blue skies’ lyric - that was my opportunity to what I loved about that really hippie part of the ‘70s. We know we’ll have a very engaged audience tuning in.” “We really wanted to continue to spread that message with a surround-sound campaign, and having it introduced on ‘The Voice’ by John and Carson feels like a Super Bowl spot. “It shows the belief in the power of this message, which is not just about Vrbo but how spending time with the people you love is so incredibly important,” Kennedy says. And what better song for a nation, a globe that’s emerging from a pandemic? It just feels exactly right for right now, and for Vrbo to ask me to sing this song and bring our whole family together and to celebrate being together, I felt like this project is perfect.”įor Lish Kennedy, Vrbo’s vice president of global brand, hopes are high that the campaign will help sustain bookings for the Expedia-owned platform, which has already had the best business start to a calendar year in its 25-year history. …It’s one of those classic melodies that just sticks with you and puts you in a good mood. Watch the premiere of the full-length spot exclusively below.Īs Legend explains of his “Clearly Now” cover in a behind-the-scenes clip from the campaign shoot: “It’s a beautiful, nostalgic song about celebrating the light at the end of the tunnel.
Following tonight’s premiere, the 60 and 30-second versions of the campaign will air on broadcast and cable TV (including ABC, NBC and E!) as well as online platforms like YouTube and Facebook. 1 “I Can See Clearly Now.” Legend also appears in the spot alongside wife Chrissy Teigen and their children Luna and Miles.
The campaign will receive a special two-and-a-half-minute premiere during tonight’s (May 25) finale of NBC’s “The Voice,” with a special introduction from host Carson Daly and coach John Legend, the latter of whom performs a cover of Johnny Nash’s 1972 Hot 100 No.